Plans for a 99.9MW pumped storage facility at Glyn Rhonwy near Llanberis, Wales, has hit a setback with news that developer Snowdonia Pumped Hydro (SPH) has withdrawn a water discharge application following concerns from Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
Plans for a 99.9MW pumped storage facility at Glyn Rhonwy near Llanberis, Wales, has hit a setback with news that developer Snowdonia Pumped Hydro (SPH) has withdrawn a water discharge application following concerns from Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
A water abstraction licence has already been granted for the scheme, but NRW says SPH has not provided enough information about its day to day operation and management of the scheme and there is insufficient technical information.
In a statement, Dylan Williams, Operations Manager for NRW said that if the applications were to be decided on the basis of the information provided, they would have been refused. Without permits from NRW the scheme cannot be built or operated.
SPH told media that it was ‘surprised’ by the NRW statement and hasd ‘given them [NCR] all the information they asked for’. It confirmed it will be re-submitting its application in due course.
Plans for the Glyn Rhonwy site had originally been for a 49.9MW project which would re-purpose two abandoned slate quarries. In November 2015, SPH submitted plans to double the output to 99.9MW, achieved by increasing the capacity of the underground turbines and associated equipment.